Monticello mayor arrested; Driving while intoxicated and other charges

Gordon Jenkins, the mayor of Monticello, reportedly turned up at the site of a car accident on Broadway on November 16, and a volunteer firefighter suspected that he had been drinking. He reported his suspicion to the Monticello police. Jenkins left the scene but was later arrested by the Monticello police and taken to the station.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated and related charges, and also with refusing to take a breathalyzer test. He was also charged with damaging a clock at the station in a fit of anger.

Jenkins was sent to the Sullivan County Jail on the morning of November 17, but was later released on $2,500 bail.

This is not the first time Jenkins has had brushes with the law. In 2012, Jenkins and his long-time girlfriend Rochelle Massey were charged with selling counterfeit sneakers at Jenkins’ store on Broadway. At the time, Jenkins said the prosecutor was politically motivated, but a year later he and Massey pleaded guilty to reduced misdemeanor counts, which allowed him to stay in office.

Jenkens was also arrested in connection with an altercation with a police officer in July 2012, although that apparently was not pursued.

This latest arrest almost immediately sparked calls for his resignation, most vocally from village trustee Carmen Rue, who has been a critic of the mayor. Rue told a New York City television station, “He cannot perform his duties as an acting manager or as a mayor, and it’s a shame that the community has to suffer for this.”